Description: KORENGAL VALLEY, Afghanistan  Afghan National Army and Coalition forces recently stormed into the enemy safe haven of the Korengal Valley in Kunar Province in the largest Coalition military effort since troops first arrived here as part of Operation Enduring Freedom more than four years ago.

The offensive, named Operation Mountain Lion, began April 11 with night helicopter insertions of Afghan and Coalition forces at strategic points throughout the valley, followed shortly by troops pushing up on foot through the mouth of the valley.

We're taking the fight to the terrorists in their own backyard," said Army Command Sgt. Maj. James Redmore of Task Force Spartan. They gave their victims no sanctuary. Theyll receive none from us.

An estimated 2,500 ANA and Coalition forces are in the Korengal and surrounding valleys in what military officials are calling the most significant effort yet to bring stability to this war-torn region.

The enemy has very few options, said Marine Lt. Col. James Bierman, commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, whose Hawaii-based unit is the main thrust of the operation. The first option he has is to run -- if he runs, he leaves the safety and sanctuary of the villages where hes mixed with the local population, and he now becomes detectable by air support.

The next option would be to blend in with the local populace, he added. The last option he has is to fight -- if he does that, hes going to have a world of hurt put on him.

Every single company from 1/3 has been in firefights and received fire, said Marine 1st Lt. Kevin Frost, platoon commander for 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, and Zeeland , Mich. , native. It is a credit to our abilities as Coalition forces that theyve shot at us but havent come close to winning any engagements, said Frost.

The Marines frequently get into skirmishes with the remaining enemies and the ones that are left are just stubborn, said Marine Sgt. Michael Chambers, platoon sergeant, 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company. They pop off a couple rounds at us and then run back along the ridgeline, trying to get away.

Marine Staff Sgt. Jason Butler, an operations chief with 1/3 and native of Salt Lake City , agrees. There have been dozens of firefights so far, but the enemy is finding out that they pretty much cant do anything effective against us, said Butler .

The role the ANA has played has been a significant reason for the success of the operation, along with outstanding support from the U.S. Armys 10th Mountain Division, who cordoned off the other valleys, said Butler . Air support from the U.S. Air Force has also been key, he said. This has truly been a joint effort.

The ANA has also played a vital role in this operation, said Marine Gunnery Sgt. Donald Vollmer, an operations watch chief with the 1/3 and Albany , Ore. , native. We are here to support them, Vollmer said.

Additional support included a medical civic assistance program as part of the Coalitions humanitarian mission in Afghanistan .

Our Navy corpsmen have treated over 3,000 Afghan locals in the Korengal Valley since the start of Operation Mountain Lion, said Marine 1st Sgt. John Armstead, a Canton , Ohio , native who is the company first sergeant, headquarters and service company of the 1/3. We are here to help make their lives better and to provide whatever support and assistance we can.

According to Marine Maj. Michael Miller, executive officer for the 1/3, Operation Mountain Lion has the potential to be the catalyst that changes the makeup of the entire region.

The operation essentially has taken away the enemys sanctuary, which has increased stability and welfare among the people, said Miller, a native of Boalsburg , Pa. We are here for the long haul, he said.

All the beneficial factors and the accomplishments of Operation Mountain Lion will continue to resonate throughout the Korengal Valley for a long time to come, added Miller.

This was ANA and Coalition teamwork at its best -- we were together shoulder to shoulder on this operation, and it establishes a foundation of support from the local populace when the ANA taking charge, said Miller.

The operation is stabilizing the area and helping the people of Afghanistan, said Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Craig, operations chief of the 1/3, and a native of Buffalo, N.Y.

Operation Mountain Lion has put us five to 10 years ahead of where we were before the operation started, said Craig.

Good read. I especially liked how the CENTCOM author was able to plug the efforts of all four DoD services in this operation. Joint operations sound easy enough in theory, but as most military folks know they include many, many challenges.

and it's past time to break thru' this. They are, if not No,.1, no.2 the cause of things looking bad for pubbies - too many pubbies are jumping on board of the hype and bashing Bush and our pubbies - sheeple, so easily duped by the piper's tune

16
posted on 05/08/2006 6:35:07 AM PDT
by maine-iac7
("...but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." LINCOLN)

also -let's hope that Tony Snow will be able to stop the bleeding...First Tony and now Hayden - I think that Bush unleashing Rove's time to better do what he does best is working...shake up and get the right people in the right places.

I have an idea the vendetta against Rove is going to increase. The libs are very afraid of him

17
posted on 05/08/2006 6:45:15 AM PDT
by maine-iac7
("...but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." LINCOLN)

Great article. The spring/summer/fall offensive will kill,route, and disrupt a lot of goons. Sometimes I wonder if Zawahari and UBL are in a position to get feedback on just how bad things are for their goons. Surely Z and UBL are simply trying to hide to survive and make an occasional tape up to recruite fresh haji to step up to the plate and die. This Kunar Province, based on what I read is a heavily forested mountain area. Being a border province in the upper NE, it has long been a good area for insurgent types to gather as it has plenty of area of cover. It was used for this purpose by the Afghans during the Russian invasion. And being on the border with Pakistan a good area to ingress from the remote Paki side and egress when things get hot. As the Pakistan army keeps pressures up on their NW border provinces such as the Tribal Area of N/S Wazirstain and the Peshwar region, the Taliban and al Qaeda groups just have less areas to operate out of. And much beyond Peshwar on the Paki side, it becomes really difficult ot operate. For one enters into really high mountain ranges unfit for any type operations. Foot paths along treacherous plus 50° slopes makes for real tough travel. And surely only those that live in these high altitude places are tough enough to handle such journeys. So surely the more southern provinces are where most of the action takes place. At any rate, it appears the mujahadeen are going to have a little problem staying alive, as US and ANA forces pick them off at our convinance.

18
posted on 05/08/2006 9:00:00 AM PDT
by Marine_Uncle
(Honor must be earned)

This Kunar Province, based on what I read is a heavily forested mountain area. Being a border province in the upper NE, it has long been a good area for insurgent types to gather as it has plenty of area of cover. It was used for this purpose by the Afghans during the Russian invasion. And being on the border with Pakistan a good area to ingress from the remote Paki side and egress when things get hot.

As the Pakistan army keeps pressures up on their NW border provinces such as the Tribal Area of N/S Wazirstain and the Peshwar region, the Taliban and al Qaeda groups just have less areas to operate out of. And much beyond Peshwar on the Paki side, it becomes really difficult ot operate. For one enters into really high mountain ranges unfit for any type operations. Foot paths along treacherous plus 50° slopes makes for real tough travel. And surely only those that live in these high altitude places are tough enough to handle such journeys. So surely the more southern provinces are where most of the action takes place.

You have it exactly right -

Most simply can't appreciate the difficulties at trying to run sustained Ops in this region of the world. The logistics alone are a complete nightmare - Though we've put the needed time and blood in over the last 4 years...and we are now in position to start running this sustained Ops at an almost a continous rate if we so desire (during 6-8 months out of the year).

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